Powerbank
by hotairballooness
Summary: CollegeAU! "Natsu, do you think you have a powerbank?" In which a PMS-ing Lucy met Natsu and learned there was more of it than just a goofy smile and toothy grin. And vice versa. –Nalu
1. Chapter 1

**Fun** Fact! Powerbank is a portable device that can supply USB power using stored energy in its built-in batteries.

* * *

 **power[ ]bank**

.: hotairballooness :.

 **Chapter 1 : Oh!**

* * *

–

"I've had enough of him."

Levy stared at her, all incredulous and frowns. She sighed at the behavior of her friend who sat in front of her, eyes puffy, holding a cup of hot chocolate and dressed in pink and blue stripes pajamas with bed hair sticking out like a lion mane. She was the personification of mess in a nutshell.

"I mean, seriously? He already has me and he flirted– "

"He was only _talking_ – "

"–with that effin' b-word!"

The blue-haired writer narrowed her eyes. The fuming blonde definitely had a nasty tongue than the drunken one. But she couldn't intervene with her when she was on her monthly PMS. Levy knew very well what kind of nasty thing that could come out of her mouth.

"You sure have the guts for bad-mouthing her, Lu-chan. But Miki isn't a…bitch… yeah. As much as the victoria's secret sexy lingerie suits her well, I don't think she is."

"That photo shoots! I was the model but she... she…" Lucy sighed, quickly drinking the hot chocolate, ignoring how it burned her throat and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Well, too bad, Levy-chan, but I do."

In all honesty, Levy had grown tired with her tantrum.

"Lu-chan you know how stupid your fight is," Levy sighed, drinking her hot chocolate that was no longer hot. She glanced around her turquoise colored room. She had her best friend's winter coat on the hanger, her purple heels and her undies on the floor. All of those amidst the sea of papers and books and sticky notes reminding her of deadlines.

Speaking of deadlines, she got no more time to console the hormonal girl – young woman but, meh, whatever – and she should get started if she wanted to finish before the deadlines. She made a beeline from her bed to her working table. Ignoring the plea her friend made (Levy-chan…) she put the cup aside and turned on her laptop.

Now she could finally make a use of her friend.

"Lu-chan," she called, typing password and immediately clicking a folder open, "you have two choices. First, help me out with this chapter– "

"No way!"

"Or second, stay on your temper tantrum and I'll throw you out of my room."

The girl in question puffed her cheek, eyebrows knitted in annoyance. Running a hand on her golden tresses, she fell back to the bed, either contemplating the choices or deciding to go back sleeping, Levy didn't know. Three microsoft word documents opened and Levy leaned to her chair and glanced back at the girl.

"Fine, I'll help," she finally answered, flailing her arms in the process.

"Good, now, come here."

Lucy rolled her eyes. Moving her hurting feet – coming from wearing heels for hours last night – she then plopped herself on a magenta beanbag beside the smaller girl. Her doe-like eyes, still red and watery, scanned through each character before moving to the next paragraph.

Levy had moved her chair and Lucy gained more access to the white laptop. Fingers typing in pink colored font between words, underlining it and highlighted another. She moved to the next sentence and resolutely deleting more words.

Past her peripheral vision, Levy stared at her in awe. She was right on asking Lucy to help her with her story. Lucy was an aspiring writer, even Ms. Laki approved it, but she didn't get the gist of her side-tracking to modeling.

The two would be majoring in English linguistic in Magnolia University as they had always dreamed of being an author; publishing their own books, press conference, seminar, all those author-thing, they desperately wanted it. It was one fine day on summer that Lucy met some pretty boy their age and immediately stating that she fell in love with him and two weeks later she told her they were a pair.

Now, who was the first to say that having a boyfriend was a drag?

"You know, Lu-chan, you can work as my editor and I'll pay you with hearing out your PMS tantrum."

Lucy snorted in a very un-lady-like. "Sure, that's what am I doing now."

Levy grinned. The annoyance was still there, but she caught the glimpse of enjoyment as she read through her edited paragraph. It had been a long time since they wasted their time together, working on college tasks or simply talking about the latest writing contest.

Then an idea popped in her head. Though, Lucy might not like it but she knew it was the best thing for her.

"Say, Lu-chan, you know the writing contest on this WordlyPen website, don't you?" she asked, playing with her pen out of nervousness.

"Aa."

"Don't you have any desire to participate it? It's been a really long time since you last participate one."

Lucy bit her lower lips. Fingers stopped typing and tapped her chin instead with eyes looked upwards. She was certainly thinking over it, much to Levy's relief. But then her eyes turned back to her laptop then reading and typing at the same time.

"Lu-chan!"

The girl turned at her slowly, but frustration was far apparent than before as she put on a deep frown. That moment Levy realized she had pulled the wrong string.

"I'm not going to participate, and you know why, don't you, Levy-chan?"

"Well, it's says that the first winner will get trophy, certificate and 500,000 jewels," the blue haired girl sighed, although hidden by her hand, a smirk bloomed. "But that's fine if you don't want to participate, Lu-chan. I won't force you."

"I'm done," Lucy said suddenly. Stretching her hands, she stood up and went to the bathroom. Levy stared at her, feeling dumbfounded and a little confused. She pulled her chair and examined her friend's work. There were some corrections, some words added and highlighted in a way she understood very well. Upon reading the once-rigid chapter of hers, she realized how much it had changed in Lucy's hand.

Smiling in content, Levy worked to dispose the highlight ones and edited them. It was then Lucy came back already dressed in her clothes of blue jeans and white crop-tee with a picture of silhouette of cats. She examined her clothes and mumbled to herself, "No wonder I caught a cold last night."

"Now that you realized it you still wear it, really," Levy commented but didn't remove her eyes from the screen. "You're going home?"

"Uh-uh. Still got a lot of Ms. Laki's assignment. Knowing I would stay here, I would've brought my laptop along," she sat on the bean bag after buttoning up the peach colored winter coat, reaching for heels and put them on.

"You remember we have an assignment of analyzing some poem, right?"

Lucy's hand froze on her way reaching for the left heels. Slowly facing Levy, she had narrowed eyes on her face with an eyebrow slightly raised. "Yes? I've read Dante's Inferno so it's…alright."

"It's due tomorrow," Levy drank the remaining of her hot chocolate and put the cup aside, "tomorrow morning."

Like a little girl looking at her favorite candy, Lucy had her eyes widened but with the total opposite reason. Scrambling on her feet, she quickly gathered her bag and tossed in her cellphone and purse. Rushing to the door, Lucy stopped and went back to Levy, hugging her before rushing again out of the room, probably stumbling her way to the first floor of the apartment.

Levy stared at the door that was unceremoniously closed with a loud bang. It was a miracle that it hadn't fall from its hinges yet. But all in all, she was happy, and relieved. Looking at her best friend got all worked up over an assignment was far more refreshing than her jumpiness on her first date.

Saving her word documents, Levy stretched her stiff back and decided to walk around her room to get some fresh mind back to her. Her heart told her to read some book as a reference, and she did obey what her heart wanted. Kind of lame, but it gave her the best result. Reaching for a book on the floor, Levy barely held a nervous laugh when she read its title.

Dante Alighieri's Inferno.

 _Surely Lu-chan will not be fine without this._

* * *

Levy's word about the competition kept on ringing in her ears. Sure the last time she participated in a writing contest was, like, months ago but she wasn't sure she was ready for another one. But the prizes! It took all of her willpower to not dropping her jaw and wiggling out her tail in front of Levy.

The problem wasn't about Levy seeing her acting like that – she had seen it over than a hundred already and Lucy was sure she was tired of it. It was only that she hadn't got over her stupid trauma and she wasn't ready to go for it. Rubbish was the only thing she would write if she forced herself and, surely, she would hate herself for writing such a story.

As a bus came to a stop in front of her, Lucy shut her cellphone and get on the bus. And much to her trouble, it was already packed. It was Sunday morning, so Lucy couldn't help but wondering where these people heading to.

A little luck for her, she spotted an empty seat beside a sleeping guy with black hoodie flung over his head. But he was definitely asleep. Lucy made her way beside her slowly, afraid he would be annoyed if she woke him, and sat by the window.

Leaning slightly to the window, Lucy opened her cellphone, went to google chrome and typed WordlyPen then left to wait while it loaded. She glanced to the sleeping hooded guy, curious as why he could sleep in the bus. Did anyone know where he head to? He could miss the stop and had to repeat the route and that would be so troublesome if she was on his shoes.

Then, to the sound of someone coughing, he lifted his head, forcing Lucy to spin her head back to her cellphone. The website had stopped loading, and Lucy immediately searched the competition info through the words and paragraph. Shuffling sound on her left side made her glance, but found an elderly woman with a handkerchief sitting instead of the guy.

 _That's pretty nice of him,_ she thought to herself before continued her search. After opening and closing several tabs, and glancing around if she had arrived on her stop, she finally found the info. She told herself if the theme was pretty easy, she would participate.

But then, it changed to an incoming call screen.

"Levy-chan?" she asked to no one, but immediately tapped the answer button.

"Lu-chan, did you, by any chance, brought along your poem book to work last night?"

"Yes… wait, don't tell me it's– "

"Unfortunately, yes."

Lucy could hear a loud cracking sound inside her head.

"Levy-chan…" she slumped on her seat. "Tell me – what should I do?"

"It's either to go back to my apartment and get it or go to a library and find the copy."

 _Right, find the copy. A library should have one._

"Is it possible to love someone more than she already has? Love you to the end of earth, Levy-chan! I gotta go now!"

"Good luck, Lu-chan!"

The call ended and Lucy forced herself not to grief on her carelessness. She had to get off on the nearest stop – if she remembered correctly, there was a library around here, one that Levy once brought her to accompany her on volunteering.

But she couldn't take the risk of getting lost while she had assignments to do. Asking the lady should be not a problem. The thing was that she fell asleep. Lucy almost screamed in agony, not only that she missed the only chance, she wasn't sure she could get off without actually waking the lady.

Acacia Lane was the name of the stop she finally could get off, and, fortunately, along with the lady. There was a library around here it was called Acacia Library or something, that was the information Lucy could get from her. Lucy wasted no time and spun her heels to the direction the google maps directed. And when she arrived at the place, she couldn't help but sighed in relief and exhaustion.

Apparently, the library's name was Eight Island with Acacia Lane Library in a bracket. But Lucy cared no more; it was chilling since the snow had started to fall half on her way there. Pushing the door open, she could hear the jingling sound of bell. It was unexpectedly warm inside, with a fireplace and comfy-looking sofa near it.

"Hi! Can I help you, miss?"

Lucy whirled around and found a woman with silvery white long hair rubbing a cup. A smile on her face, but immediately changed when they came to face to face.

"Lucy?"

"Mira-san?"

* * *

"So, what bring you here?" Mira asked, offering her a hot coffee on the counter.

"I'm looking for a library. I asked a lady and she said there was one and I came to find this," she explained after taking a slow sip of her drink. Glancing around, she then said, "But it seems I go to the wrong one."

"No, no, you're just one step behind it!" Mira clapped her hand together and exited the counter. "You see, the first floor is a restaurant. The library you're looking for is on the second floor. C'mon here."

Putting the cup on the counter, Lucy followed her and found a stairs behind a big cupboard. Grinning, the blonde thanked her and quickly went upstairs while trying to ignore the squeaky sound the stairs made.

Upon reaching the second floor, the thing she first saw was a really tall bookshelf that full of books. The smell of ink and papers immediately filled her nose and Lucy smiled even wider. Aside Levy's place and her apartment, this one would be her favorite spot, she decided. A little bit dusty here and there, but she could get used to it.

Scanning the bookshelf on the poem section, she quickly found the exact copy of Dante's Inferno. Typing a short message to Levy the heartwarming news, she walked to find the librarian. And when she found him, she had her eyes widened for the second times that morning.

"Heya, miss!" he greeted casually, with a lopsided grin that seemed so careless. "Dante's Inferno, eh? Not bad."

"Aren't you the one who slept on the bus?" the word was stupidly blurted out without her realizing.

He laughed, pushing the hoodie off his head then stood with a hand asking for the book. "It's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel," he said as he wrote today's date and the name of the book on another book.

Lucy could only stare in disbelief. "It's pink."

"It's _salmon_ not _pink_ ," he shot back, a pout formed. "Now, write your name and sign here then the book is all yours to read."

She wrote her name and signed on the column next to it. But not before she examined his writing. It wasn't messy, on the contrary, it was pretty good and readable. Tall and big character was the total opposite of hers that round and small.

"Lucy Heartfilia," he read out loud, almost startling her as to make the pen fell. "Pretty name. Nice meetin' ya, Luigi."

"It's Lucy!"

"Ssshh, it's a library, remember? Absolute rule of no loud voice is applied here," he said then laughed.

"Anyway, thanks for the book, Natsu. I'll return it tomorrow evening," Lucy put the book in her bag and proceed on the stairs, only to see snowstorm through the window next to the stairs. Blood drained from her face as she mumbled in a breathless voice, "You can't be serious."

It was then finally Lucy gave up to her trembling legs and let herself slumped. Tears threatened to fall but she held it – she just couldn't bring herself crying in a place aside her apartment or Levy's. So instead, she let out a yell of frustration.

"Whoa, whoa, what I just told you about keeping the peace? You shouldn't scream like that, Luigi!"

"I don't care," she snapped. The girl stood and walked to the chair across the counter. "And it's Lucy!"

"Snowstorm? Looks like we're trapped here, Luce," he rubbed his head.

"Luce?" she asked, gaining a shrug from him. "Whatever. Anyway, do you have papers and pen? Or pencil? I need to work on my college assignment."

She looked at her cellphone. It vibrated – the battery was only 15% remaining.

"Natsu, do you think you have a powerbank?"

* * *

"Luce," Natsu called, poking her cheek out of boredom with head slumped on the desk.

The said girl didn't bother to look at him. Her eyes focused to her cellphone screen then she wrote using the pencil. Sometimes she opened the book, checking if what she wrote was correct or if she was wrong on the spelling. While Lucy liked poem the least, she found Inferno to be somewhat interesting but confusing at the same time.

"Luce."

"Shut up, Natsu. I'm working."

"But I'm booooored," he moaned, rolling his tongue. Lucy would have thought of it as cute if only she wasn't in a sour mood.

"Find yourself a book and read it."

The sound of footsteps was loud in her ears, or maybe it was because the library was empty if she counted them out. Noticing the absence of the librarian, Lucy stretched her stiff back and arms before resumed her work.

And then Natsu came back and slumped again on the desk, forcing her to acknowledge his presence. But she kept on writing. She was almost finished, and she wondered if the snowstorm had subdued when she did.

And then, there was poke. _Pokes_.

"What the hell, Natsu?!"

"I've read them all! Do you have any reading material?"

"In here," she pointed to her cellphone, "but too bad I'm using it."

"Meanie!"

"Wait a little, I'm almost finished," she scribbled more to her paper. Writing the last part consisting of the conclusion and her opinion towards the poem and then she threw her arms upward and shouted banzai. "Here, it's on the browser. I've bookmarked all of the stories I have read and I promise they're all very good."

Like a child, Natsu nodded and grinned happily. He started opening her browser, opening five tabs on the same time. It was a good thing that she borrowed his power bank, or else she wouldn't be able to finish her assignment there.

"Natsu," she called him after a yawn. "Wake me up when the storm passed, 'kay?"

She was quick to close her eyes, either exhausted from working all out or the library's tranquil air or the warmth she felt ever since she started writing. Conscious slipped away fast, but she caught a glimpse of Natsu nodding his head.

* * *

Of all the bookmarked stories, Natsu could only finish three of them. If he had to comment them, they were all entertaining and easy to read, but it was all from the girl's point of view so he couldn't help but frowning each time the heroine called her boyfriend idiot. They were about romance – cheesy one, dramatic and angst and if Natsu guessed, Lucy liked the angst one the most.

Glancing to the window, he noticed the storm had subsided and was about to wake the girl up. But looking at her peaceful face, a little bit childish and undeniably innocent, he decided to let her sleep a bit longer as he watched her sleeping face.

There were moves on her eyelids and he was afraid if she woke up and caught him staring but all she did was mumbling some incoherent words. Her long golden locks fit her heart-shaped face perfectly. And then, there were her small lips – pink and so soft-looking.

The vibration of her cellphone was what brought Natsu back to reality. There was a message from whoever called Levy. Now it was time that Natsu contemplate whether he should reply the message out of mischievous or ignore it and let Lucy read once she woke up.

He chose the latter. Closing the pop-up, he found himself looking to the first tab on her browser. It was a writing contest, with prize that picked his interest. Scrolling down, he read the requirement and found himself grinning as he found its theme.

Snowstorm.

* * *

to be continued

* * *

Hello! A new story (and my first story!), yash! I'm new to this section but I've read many of Fairy Tail fanfiction here and I asked myself if I could make one and here it is! Pardon my grammar. English isn't my mother language, you see? I'm pretty positive of this story but should I continue this one or not? Please leave your thought of this story, 'kay? Critics and suggestions are accepted with all of my heart, but no flames, yeah?

~Air

 **Edit 7/24/2015:** minor things; from Lucy and Levy already take their major to they haven't take the major. stupid me misunderstood it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fun** Fact! To improve the durability of powerbank, don't let it discharge completely.

* * *

 **power[ ]bank**

.: hotairballooness :.

 **Chapter 2: Writer's Block**

* * *

–

Lucy silently huffed at the appearance of the twin eye bags. Having them under her eyes made her look way worse than her previous state of red and puffy from stupid tears. Now, it wasn't as if she paid any mind about that – no, she didn't. But unfortunately her manager did. And only god who would know what kind of lecture he would tell her this time.

She shouldn't have stayed all night only to contemplate whether she participate the competition or not. She sighed in regret.

Make-ups? Now, she could use it, but sadly Lucy wasn't a big fan of make-ups. True that she was a model, but she preferred natural and light one than heavy one. Often she found it irritating to have her face covered by layers of powders. And to hide eye bags meant she had to wear a heavy one. Or maybe medium one, but whatever, she was so not going to wear one.

On the bright side, Lucy was certainly not a bad liar. She had called her manager to cancel the photo shoot this evening because she caught a cold. Faking several coughs and talked in croaked voice wasn't a big deal. The bigger deal was that now she got nothing to do and it irked her.

She was in her apartment, eating vanilla pocky and staring at the screen of her laptop at the same time on her bed. It was WordlyPen, and she was in the competition section. Her eyes didn't once leave the prize details nor did she blink at what were written there.

 **First Place will get Certificate, Trophy and Money 500,000 Jewels**

 **Second Place will get Certificate and Money 250,000 Jewels**

 **Third Place will get Certificate and Money 100,000 Jewels**

It was… tempting. Even the third place.

Lucy licked her lips.

Sweet.

 **Minimal Words: 3000 words**

 **Font: Times New Roman or Arial**

 **Size: 12**

 **Margin: …**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **Theme: Snowstorm**

She fell to her back, her pocky scattered everywhere.

It was true that she found the subject was rather easy, but the thing was that she hadn't had any idea for the story itself. Last night, she had checked every story she once made and she could tell they were all decent for the competition, but she felt unrelieved… uncomfortable if she didn't make a new one.

If she was lazy, then she could just copy her work and add some salt and pepper on it. But she was not lazy – she only had this stupid writer's block.

You know how irritating and from-earth-to-the-moon-and-lost-in-the-space feeling when you got writer's block, right?

That was what she felt this very second – walking from earth to the moon and lost in the space.

She tried to call Levy once, to ask for guidance and some sermon, but the girl didn't answer. Probably still stuck in the big sale of the grocery store. Lucy hoped she didn't forget her favorite marshmallow that was also on discount.

Lucy rolled in her bed, almost knocking over her laptop before she suddenly jumped out of her blanket. She just remembered something. Her safe haven. Acacia Lane Library.

Oh my gosh.

She bolted to her bathroom and showered in a high speed. Wearing her jeans and a very thick sweater, she then hibernates her laptop and shoved it into her brown messenger bag, then pushed in a notepad, money and some other stuff. Not bothering to try to be neat, she pulled her hair into a low bun and dashed out of her apartment to chase the bus.

If she was late, she had to wait for another fifteen minutes and it was really a pain in the ass because it was freezing as hell – Lucy snorted, _ha,_ _freezing as hell_.

But it seemed the lady luck was on her side because as she arrived at the stop, the bus was just arriving as well. Forcing her feet to run faster – she praised herself to wear boots instead of anything else with heels – she managed to get on the bus with some big inhale and exhale.

Noting the emptiness of the bus, she wore one earphone on her left ear as she stared at the scenery outside. As blank as her eyes were shown, her mind was racing on thinking over the story she wanted to make. Thus far, she still hadn't any ideas popping into her head. Perhaps she needed more glucose or maybe caffeine. She hoped 8 Island had this delicious Vanilla Latte or a simple espresso.

Arriving at the stop, she spotted someone familiar walking to the direction of the library. Lucy asked herself – should she greet him? He was pretty annoying yesterday, but he did his job of waking her in a gentle way. Uh, maybe she should treat him coffee or something.

"Natsu!" She called, fighting off the thick snow under her feet. Wincing, she felt sharp pain coming from her feet. She threw another fit of curse inwardly to the weak feet of hers as she glared at her boots before being forced to lean on the brick wall behind her.

"Yo! Luigi!"

Lucy was forced to lift her head at the loud call. She saw him, walking in wide stride in her direction, wearing the same red hoodie with a white muffler around his neck and a pair of gray gloves. And then there he was, standing in front of her with his unruly pink hair. Honestly, if it wasn't because of his unique-colored hair and his goofy smile, he looked as menacing as a gangster would be – one that reminded her of the incident almost a year ago.

Lucy snorted silently and brushed off the disheartening memory away.

"Care to help me?" She blurted out and to his slowly tilting head, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, you're going to the library right? Can you, uh, help me?"

Natsu crouched in front of her leaning figure, arching an eyebrow with his head still slightly tilted. "Are you hurt?"

She almost rolled her eyes, but then she remembered the reason – the _cheesy_ reason. She bit her cheek. "As cheesy as this may sound, this is the fact, okay?"

She also fought the urge to blush, altering her mind to think another negative thing to distract her stupid hormones (which she believed it was because of the hormone and the coldness). Apparently, Natsu had this blank look on his face, one that she found it annoyingly stupid and adorable at the same time.

Yes, Lucy Heartfilia just decided _it_ was adorable, or cute, whatever.

Who said he? No. No way. Not him in person.

"I kind of hurt my ankle yesterday, so," Lucy almost whacked herself at the sudden wave of nervousness, "can you help me?"

Natsu then had this 'oooohh, I see!' face before scooped her in the least way she wanted him to help her. Bridal style. She had dreamed about having her prince charming swooned her by carrying her in bridal style. But it was when she was… what? Five?

And boy could she let out the most girlish shrill that would shatter every glass in the area. She was lucky since it was snowing so no passerby paid attention at her. Lucky her that he was someone she knew, if it was a pervert or, worse, rapist and then she would be dead.

"What the hell!"

 _Whack_

"Oof!"

"Put! Me!" Lucy swung her arm and smacked his face once again. "Down!"

"Oi! Don't flail around– ough!"

It was then Lucy finally dropped by him to the ground. She threw glares at him, who was busy rubbing his cheek with a pout on his face. "That hurt, you know," he said as he stood.

"Don't ever carry me like that again, got it?" Lucy massaged her temples. Seriously, as much as he willed to help her, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed – well, who wouldn't?

"Noted," he sighed. "So how should I help you, oh princess?"

 _Princess?_ "My bag, it's pretty heavy," she slung off the bag, carefully handed to him, "it has my laptop so be careful, okay?"

To her delight, or less irritate, Natsu nodded and slung it around his shoulder before helping her to walk. And, well, Lucy couldn't deny the feeling of guilt for smacking him seconds ago. She made sure to remember to treat him with something, something other than coffee perhaps.

Less than ten minutes later, they arrived on the library-slash-restaurant and Natsu proceed on walking up stairs without sparing her another glance. Lucy then decided that he was angry.

She was thankful that Mira wasn't here. Who knew what she could do to her if she saw her librarian in that state. But as much as Lucy was pleased about it, she needed someone's advice and probably some ointment for this sprained ankle of hers.

"My, how lovely," she whirled around and saw an old man wiping a glass on the counter. Lucy stared at him in half curiosity half confusion. "It's pretty rare to have a youngster as a customer here nowadays."

He exited the counter and approached her before inspecting her legs of all things.

"Um..?"

The old man laughed, the wrinkled on his face moved in a funny manner. "Have a seat, dear, I'll get you treated."

Five minutes later, Lucy got her ankle treated – wrapped in bandage neatly. Lucy smiled as she told him her gratitude before he ushered her all the way to the second floor. Bowing in a polite manner, the old man simply waved it off, and then he walked back to the first floor.

Lucy sighed. She spotted her messenger bag on the counter right away and made a slow walk to it – she didn't want to waste the every effort he had made. Upon noticing the absence of her laptop, she gritted her teeth.

"Natsu? Did you see my laptop? Are you using it?"

"Here! I'm here!"

She followed his voice and arriving on a desk by a big circle window with black sills. The snow fell harder, she noticed, it would take three hours at most to subside. But now that she finally here, she had to get started with her story.

"You've got a lot of nice story, Luce," his light tone indicated his good mood, which Lucy found it startling as she drew her attention back from the scenery outside. "This one is the best, like, you throw conflict after conflict without confusing me!"

In spite of the praise, she frowned and her eyebrows furrowed. But then she decided to humor him. "To what kindness did I deserve such praise, oh mighty king?"

Natsu grinned. "You see, princess, I am a complete dumb when it comes to psychological matter, but this," he pointed the screen with his thumb, "is what I would call as a pleasant feast."

The reaction she gave him was slow blink and a tilting head. A frown came back to her face, concealing the eruption of happiness and pride that swelled in her chest.

"Ne, why the long face?" He asked.

"Writer's block," she replied in a mutter.

"Hmm," he scratched his chin, "I can help you with that!"

 **.**

Lucy discovered that he was older than her, currently majoring in Stringed Instrument as a cellist in the same university as her. Being her senior, she should be calling him senior, but he refused to be called as such. Apparently, he wasn't the biggest fan of formality; moreover, he was only her senior by age, not major and Lucy was fine with it.

But she never thought that Natsu could be such a poet. And then, she found out that he was a fast reader, so it was hardly surprising that he had read most of the book in this library as he had told her yesterday. But reading was different from understanding and remembering. So when it came to understanding and remembering, Lucy worked better than him.

"I remember it, Luce! I swear!" He exclaimed as he closed his eyes in concentration. "Well, no, I kind of remember it but it was like a blur."

And then Lucy concluded that he had a photographic memory, but not really good about it. Nevertheless, she found it amusing, looking at his distressed face as she typed her story idea.

It had been two hours since Lucy decided to work the story together with Natsu. The idea was pure by her and Natsu was only giving her some pointers here and there so, technically, she didn't violate the competition rules.

But she still had this writer's block. It was proofed when she was ready to type, but no word came to her mind at all. Her fingers were dead on the keyboard, completely unable to form words. She knew what she wanted to type, she knew the point, but she didn't know _how_.

The smell of cinnamon interrupted her frustrated thought as she saw the same old man placed a mug beside her laptop. It was hot chocolate, with cinnamon powder sprinkled on the top. Definitely her favorite.

"Your favorite, dear," he said with a light chuckle.

Lucy blinked. "You know?"

"Mira told me yesterday, but today she is working if you are wondering where she is." Lucy nodded in understanding and silently made a mental note about Mira's working time.

"Can you bring another cup to him? Eh… what's your favorite, Natsu?" She asked. "It's on me today."

"Really?! Jii-chan, the usual!" He replied in eagerness.

He nodded, barely containing his chuckle before walking downstairs. Lucy drank her hot beverage and sighed at the warmth that immediately nestled in her stomach. Putting it aside, she stilled for a moment before trying typing once again.

Before she knew it, she had typed for almost one thousand and eight hundred words. Smiling in content, Lucy yawned before deciding that was all for today. Saving her work – she would cry if she accidentally lost it, of course – and shut the laptop down, she emptied her cup. It was then she realized Natsu's intent stare at her.

Naturally, she would snap at the disturbing action, but all she did was just simply stared back. She avoided his eyes, not knowing why, but she felt weird if she didn't, and focused to his cheek. The one that got hit earlier.

She winced at the recall.

"Natsu," she called, realizing her voice was quieter than she intended. The said boy – _young man_ since he was definitely older than her for, maybe, a year – blinked with eyes filled with question. "Does it hurt?"

"My cheek? It was but I think not anymore."

Then Lucy poked his cheek and he winced. She laughed. "I hit you pretty hard, eh?"

He pouted but then leaned his hand to her hand slowly. "You did."

Her hand stiffened and stilled even more when he put his hand over hers. "E-Eh…" _Stutter_. Lucy hated stutter because it indicated her nervousness. Her eyes widened a fraction and she fought hard to keep her facial free from surprised expression, but still, she felt this tingling feeling in her chest.

She forced her mind to think any other thing. She reminded herself that she had a boyfriend, and for goodness' sake, she shouldn't be interacting with another man like this.

Lucy decided she had to spill out apologize as soon as possible, or else her mouth would also fail her.

"Natsu, I'm sor–"

"Now, now, one bad bunny caught in action, should I tell him?" A voice came behind her followed by a trademark laugh she easily recognized.

"Gajeel?"

Lucy stared at him, who also stared at her in surprise as they say the man's name in unison. She knew she needed a hole so she could leap in and bury herself out of embarrassment. Anything was better, way better than this man, even thunder seemed two times better now.

"Lovebirds," he muttered, but loud and clears enough for her to hear. "Yo, gotta talk to ya 'bout something," he eyed her, smirking a little, "it's private."

Lucy shoved her laptop into her bag and stood, tried hard not to wince as she remembered her injured ankle. "Well, I also need to go home before it started snowing again," she declared and threw glares at the black haired man, "and believe me; I don't have any interest about anything you wish to talk about."

She spun her heels, ignoring the loud goodbye from Natsu and scowling sound from Gajeel. Well, she could tell Levy about him, she smirked. But on the second thought, maybe she shouldn't. That girl would pry any details out of her, and Lucy got a feeling it would focus on Natsu.

After paying for the beverages and thanked the old man for the hospitality, Lucy exited the building. She wore a smile, which almost broke into a grin, as she reminded herself to continue her work at home.

 **.**

Gajeel snorted as he saw the blonde chick's smile as she walked away through the window. He leaned into it, smirking afterwards at the idea of telling this to the bookworm. Across him, Natsu drank his beverage and emptied, it then stared at him.

"What?" Gajeel asked.

"I should be the one who ask you," Natsu countered, his tone slightly annoyed, "What are you doing here."

"Gihi," he laughed with a smirk. "Ya got the message from Lightning, know what does it mean?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes dangerously, completely understanding both the message and his intention being here. "I'm not coming," he stated as he stood.

"He won't accept no, Salamander."

"Fuck off," he hissed, glaring his black eyes at him. Fury was clearly displayed as he fought the urge to plant a nice punch and broke his nose. He was tempted to pull his piercing one by one, so it would be a long time and agonizing. Ha, torture.

"Come, we need you." Gajeel roughly grabbed his arm with a look as menacing as Natsu's. "You are the leader, ain't ya? Act like one."

"I _was_ , not anymore," he pulled and walked away, checking the book that was out of place and reorganized them.

Gajeel stared at him, half in incredulous half in irritation. When he was finally being nice to him… No, Gajeel decided to play it easy. "Have you lost your mind? Being a stupid librarian in such an old library? You know the owner has such a wide heart."

"He does."

His eyes twitched. "You have no place here."

"I belong here."

Gajeel growled. His red eyes seemed to glow the more Natsu stare at him. "You've grown weak," he said through gritted teeth. His jaw was stiff and he curled his hand into a fist, trembling in anticipation of flying a punch. "You've grown _naïve_."

"Gajeel."

The said man had his eyes wide when he found the pink haired man suddenly emitted the alarming aura. He forced himself to stay still as the other man approached him, bangs covered his eyes.

When he was only several inches away from him, Natsu lifted his head, glaring as he whispered a quiet but threatening word.

" _Fuck off_."

 **.**

What Lucy first noticed as she entered her apartment was a mail on the floor. It had a soft blue colored envelope with lace ornament on the edges. Such a pretty envelope, she thought and contemplated if she should keep the envelope. She hoped it wasn't a prank mail or something like haters mail. She didn't need anything like that to ruin her mood.

Curious, she flipped the mail to find out the sender's name. But then she froze.

 _How…_

"Lu-chan! I got your marshmallow!"

Quickly, Lucy shoved the mail into her bag, not minding its shape anymore. She turned towards the girl with two big paper bags containing grocery and forced an excited smile and greeted her.

"Levy-chan! Thanks a ton!" She hugged her marshmallow pack. "Want to come in?"

"Sure, I think I can't feel my feet," she said with a laugh.

They both fell right to her bed, Levy let out a groan. "You know I love your bed," she nuzzled her face with a yellow pillow. "It's so very ultra comfy, I should get one."

Beside her, Lucy laughed and silently pressed the thought of the mail harder to the back of her mind. Somehow she felt light-headed, but she couldn't talk about it to Levy. Not a chance. Inhaled deeply, Lucy pushed her body to stand and walked to the kitchen.

Her apartment was bigger than Levy's, and she used the space to make her kitchen as comfortable as possible. She remembered how Levy would visit her back in summer to bake cookies together, somehow managed to get Gajeel eat the burnt one.

Speaking of Gajeel, Lucy couldn't help but slightly wondering if he was Natsu's friend. Levy rarely talked about his personal life and Lucy could see why. But Lucy didn't miss the look on Natsu's face when he came, aside from the surprise when they said his name together.

It was something more, like nuisance; as if he cursed Gajeel's visit.

She got a hunch, a tiny little hunch that something was going to happen. She hoped it was nothing big, she didn't want to lose anyone.

Now why did she think as if she was going to lose anyone?

She blamed the mail, she cursed it and its sender.

"Lu-chan? Are you alright?"

And now she was completely flabbergasted. There was a loud ringing sound as she found Levy by her side, her face expressed concern. She opened her mouth, like she talked to Lucy, but she was too distracted by the noise.

"Don't worry, Lu-chan, it's only the kettle," Levy said after putting off the stove.

"Oh, right! The kettle!" Lucy laughed, which made her sound utterly stupid. Hastily lifted it, she poured the boiling water inside to the cup. "It's for your hot chocolate. Sorry I only have the instant one."

Levy waved it off and helped her with the kettle. The soft aroma of chocolate slowly penetrated her nose, easing her troubled mind. They were right about chocolate as a mood-booster. Lucy placed the cup on the coffee table and sat on the chair with a loud exhale.

"Something on your mind?" Levy asked as she touched the cup carefully and slide her hand over it. Lucy felt the slightest urge to laugh at her friend's behavior, but then again, she didn't feel like it.

"Nah, it's nothing. I'm only tired," she yawned, "and sleepy."

The blue-haired bookworm frowned. "You should sleep, Lu-chan. You have these eye bags too."

Lucy nodded and walked to her room, immediately fell to her bed and closed her eyes. Vaguely, she heard Levy said to her about putting the cup in the sink and going back home. Lucy would walk her to the stop, but she didn't have the energy to do so.

The clicking sound of the door, she heard one second ago indicated Levy had left. Lucy cracked an eye open, before sluggishly reached for her bag and pulled out the crumpled letter. Maybe she got wrong when she read it first. Obviously it wouldn't be from her. No, never.

But to her agony, she didn't read it wrong. It was clearly written in a neat, old-fashioned curly handwriting. That person's name. As elegant as it seemed, Lucy crumpled it and tossed it somewhere, hoping it would land on the fireplace and burned to ashes, leaving no distinguishable trace.

Silently, she wondered if she could be like that too.

* * *

to be continued

* * *

Well, who else think that writer's block is an ass? I got one recently so I'm sorry for the delay.

The next chapter we will peek at Natsu's past. See you later then!

~Air


	3. Chapter 3

**Fun** Fact! Speaking of charging powerbank, avoid charging while there's high temperature or if the powerbank is heated up.

* * *

 **power[ ]bank**

.: hotairballooness :.

 **Chapter 3: About Natsu**

* * *

–

If Hisami was asked whether he was sleepy or not, he would gladly answer it with action right away. If only he could do that. He didn't, though, because if he was to leave the girl, who was shaking in her sitting form, only gods who knew what he would do to punish himself.

The girl seated across him was just like a frightened little puppy – all shaking and sat rigidly with small hands gripping a cup a little too tight for her knuckle almost turned white. It had been a little while since she stopped (or paused, Hisami hoped) talking and the anticipation of her next words was slowly killing him.

And then she talked, in a whisper, "It's only a dream, but it feels…"

At the slowly trailing voice he quirked an eyebrow and secretly stole a glance into her glazed eyes. The steam of hot coffee slightly blurred him, but he knew better what lay behind those bottomless black eyes. Insecurity, or rather, nervousness. Like as if she would be killed if she said it out loud.

"Real." He finished for her. Hisami couldn't bear the weight clinging in his chest as he imagined what sort of a dream she was dreaming about. It was anything but peace, the boy decided. Just like his dream – almost about anything nonsensical, but that was what made him dreading it.

She nodded silently. Her eyes were downcast, but he could see tears glistening. Hisami almost flinched as he saw it fell one by one in a rapid speed. Lisa, the girl who used to be a shy one, was always been more expressive than the other two boys, but it didn't mean she always showed those tears all the time. She was a brave girl, a strong girl and even stronger than the rest of the apartment occupants. And Hisami felt proud of it.

At the chocked sobs, he curled a pair of itchy hands. There was an urge to put a reassuring pat on her shoulder, he even would go as far as embrace her. But he could not.

She was… someone else's and what he wished to do would jeopardize the entire act he had been put on with great difficulty. He wanted to laugh ironically, to laugh at what happened months ago back in the Tokyo Tower. It was… it was the moment. And he ruined it with a single sentence of lies. He lied about his feelings (admire, respect, happiness, _love_ ) but it was _feelings_ he talked about. Hisami wasn't a person who understood that subject well, even if it was his own.

Hisami didn't spare another glance at her and just staring at the half-empty cup. They stayed like that in a cold silence, and he was left wondering why his small miniature jukebox played such a song. It was but a nice song, sprouting the memory of his first time meeting her.

 _Way to add salt to the wound_ , he mused to himself with a thin smile. His glance shifted to the clock on the wall, focusing on the long hand as it ticked. But every tick felt agonizingly long, he realized at the desperate feelings hanging around him. Just like a coward, Hisami could only stare at the crying girl in front of him.

"That's so _totally_ correct! You're such a coward!"

"Lu-chan, you killed the moment!" Levy yelled, pulling out a tissue and wiped her tears-stained cheek. "And when I can finally cry my heart out, geez…"

Lucy groaned when she saw a mountain of tissue on the edge of her bed and gave it a scrutinizing stare. "Seriously, Levy-chan, you're wasting my precious tissue," she commented, her pitch rose at the sudden sobs.

The other girl mimicked her groan. "Just scroll it down already!"

And then Hisami stilled as a name struck his head.

Arata.

He was here too, albeit asleep. Why not him? Hisami gritted his teeth. Why not her boyfriend? Why _him_?

"Lisa, do you want me to call," the boy in orange-colored shirt swallowed thickly, "Arata?"

There was a spark of mild surprise from her as he questioned her and he didn't miss the soft flinch as he blurted out the name. She avoided his eyes hastily yet silently. Hisami wondered at her reaction – it was very surprising, unexpected. There was this bud, one small and fragile bud swelling in his chest as if the softest wind could tear it from its thin stem. Hisami called it as hope. And it wilted as he saw her slowly nodded her head.

It took him countless self-word to convince himself that the constricting pain in his chest was not because of her reply. It was because of… the lack of sleep.

He gave her another smile, despite the ever-growing urge to run away – away from her. Standing, he forced himself not to move abruptly, or else she would throw him _that_ questioning-pleading look. Hisami tried hard to maintain his normal posture. But the next thing he did was completely out of reflex, something that he had used to do countless times and had considered it as a taboo.

He was ruffling her short, silky hair.

The boy stilled as he noticed her rigid posture became impossibly more rigid. Daring himself to take a full look at the girl, he regretted it instantly when their eyes met. Why, of all the slips, he did this one?

Hisami, trying to keep his cool, forced a happy-less grin as he withdrew his hand. His brain was now screaming to hide, move, _anything_ to inch away from her. This was a critical moment, and so, he started to walk to his shared-room. His hand was already on the knob, ready to push open the door when her soft voice made he stopped. "Hisami-kun," she called and Hisami gripped the knob tighter, "why?"

The coldness of the metal knob crept to his hand. He couldn't believe he just heard that single word. Hisami narrowed his eyes while the word reverberated in his head. Over and over until it sounded like a broken old cassette. Sweat formed and slowly fell on his back.

Lisa rarely questioned him, or even Arata. Or if she could think of a question, she'd never asked for reasons. Like, she decided it was the best to not pry further and left it in the shadow.

But she asked it, and of all the time, now.

"Why what?" Somehow it took all of his willpower to not sounded hesitant, as if he was unaffected by it and somehow, he could play dumb at her, which was surprising. Maybe he was hoping she'd lost the idea of the question and would drop it right away.

But to Hisami's delight and relief, she didn't.

"That… thing you did…"

A frown and relaxed downcast eyes made him think to reply her with something harsh. So she could break into tiny pieces, like a glass, like a porcelain doll, like him. He tilted his head slightly, a sad smile almost formed as he replied to her.

"It's none of your concern."

He let himself slide down the floor against the door right after Arata exited their room. A sigh escaped and he rubbed his temple. Forcing his eyes closed, he minded not the possibility of having the door knocked at him when Arata came back, because he wouldn't.

But just in case if he _did_ , Hisami settled himself in his bed, face planted to the pillow as he unconsciously reached for the pink, cube-shaped doll with red antenna. It had a silly face, with the addition of the equally stupid wings on its back. It was stupid because it had a serene expression on its white face. It was stupid because it reminded him of Lisa.

Next update: 7-10 days. As usual, thanks for reading!

Lucy couldn't help but feeling her chest uncomfortably tight as she refused to shed more tears than she already did. Beside her, the bookworm with blue hair was crying twin waterfalls. It was pretty cute of her – to cry so hard because of a story.

Lucy let out the breath she unconsciously held when suddenly Levy hugged her.

"T-That was awesomely heart-wrenching," she said against her shoulder, trying her best to muffle sobs.

Lucy had to stifle a laugh. Tucking her hair behind ear, she patted the girl's back in a soothing manner. "There, there, don't ruin my hoodie now," she said almost in a teasing manner. "Okay, let's make you something. Tea?"

"Milk tea," Levy rubbed her red eyes. "Warm milk tea."

She nodded and pushed herself to stand, not bothering to smoothen her crumpled hoodie. She made a quick beeline to the kitchen through the sea of books and cringed as her toe hit a book with hardcover. Really, the bookworm should be neater than this; no wonder Gajeel hated this place.

At least the kitchen was decent, she smiled at the thought. There was a small white and brown kitchen island which gave the feeling of warmth and a set of light brown kitchen cabinet. Walking to a shelf, she grabbed a pale green porcelain jar and a white cup. She had poured the milk into a small pot and placed it on the stove to make it lukewarm when a croaked voice made her pause. "The tea is inside the blue jar, Lu-chan!"

Lucy yelled thanks before shifting her eyes to find the jar on the shelf, which she found immediately. Placing the small sieve over the cup, she placed the dried tea leaves to it then poured the boiling water. It made a nice pale brown color as she added sugar and the milk. Stirring it, she then placed the utensils in the sink and washed her hands.

Levy was already on the kitchen island with arms propped her tilting head. Her unexpected wide smile made Lucy almost jump in surprise and she gave a laugh about it.

"That was–"

"Awesomely heart-wrenching," Lucy cut the still-smiling girl, "You've already said it, seriously."

The girl across her giggled and accepted the cup, blowing slightly on its surface and sipped it slowly. "Awesomely delicious, Lu-chan," she commented and gave a lopsided grin.

Lucy gave her eyes a roll at the exaggerated praise. She leaned back to the kitchen counter, folding her arms and bit her lower lip. Levy studied her, wondering as she drank the beverage if her friend had something in her mind and was about to ask when suddenly she talked. "Say, Levy-chan, remember the writing competition you told me before?"

"Mhm, why?" She asked, not really got the idea why this came up so suddenly when the girl just bolted away when she told her. Levy noticed her troubled look. She frowned, why she was so restless? Levy's mind wandered to her question and she tried to think if she had said something else. "OH!"

"'Oh' what?" Lucy asked back, a smirk plastered across her lips.

"You are participating!" She screamed with eyes as round as if horrified, followed by a loud thumping sound produced by the contact between her hand and the kitchen island. "I can't believe it! Oh. My. God!"

The other girl placed a hand on her temples, gently massaging it as she listened to her friend's shrill of shock and excitement. The sight of her instantly made Lucy regretted her action on letting her know. Seriously, why did she have to scream like that?

"Okay, enough. I have a bad news for you then."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the sudden change of the tone. Glancing back to her, Levy was already in her serious mood, all frown and sharp eyes. "What is it?"

"The author of the story we read just now is participating too," Levy took off her red reading glasses. "I don't doubt your story, Lu-chan, but this one is better at conveying feeling through words."

The blonde ran her fingers in her tresses and sighed. "Right," she said. "Well, it's not like I'm going to give up right now."

"That's the spirit!" Levy clapped. "Oh, and a fun fact: the author is a male."

Lucy screeched. "Say what?!"

"I'm serious!"

She felt like her legs turned into a jelly. A male, Lucy's soul was ready to fly somewhere as she recited the information. Lucy could understand if the author was a female, but for a male to write such a drama was… unexpected.

She didn't intent on being racist, no she didn't. It was just that male author, as far as she knew, tend to fail when it came to writing from the female's point of view because they didn't always know what a female would do. Even female author frequently had a hard time with that one. But this one, _Eidetic Dragon_ , defied her theory.

Lucy could gape at that fact for the whole day, but she definitely refused to give up. The word 'give up' and its synonyms were already changed by 'stubbornness' in her dictionary ever since she was born. Nothing, and by nothing she meant _nothing_ , could drag her down from participating the contest.

"I know what you think, Lu-chan, what about your, uh, trauma?" Levy asked tentatively.

"The hell with trauma!" Lucy yelled. A smirk formed in silent answer of accepting the challenge. "I'm going to win the first prize and that's it!"

* * *

Lucy said that statement, _really_ , with fire as if burning behind her back, which it did in her mind. She was so fed up with the fact that the challenger was a male she forgot she had a big issue. Currently, she slumped on the desk across the library counter, hoping she could chase away the writer's block.

Across her was Natsu, but he seemed like he was in a foul mood as what he did the past hour was reading a music score with a frown and piercing gaze plastered his all over face. Occasionally he would scratch his head, circling some musical note with his pencil or simply sighed. Lucy felt pity for him, but then again, she pitied herself too.

Opening her laptop, she tried to resume her previous work. She first tried to type it gently so it didn't bother him and his work, but as she got frustrated, her typing went rash as well. And because of the rashness, she had these typos spouting everywhere, which made her jammed her fingers to the keyboards out of anger. It produced less than pleasant sound, one that made Natsu lifted his head at her.

"Luce," Natsu called in a low voice like a hiss.

The said girl, realizing her mistake and noticing his unusual-self apologized hastily before started typing in a gentler manner. But she still felt annoyed by the block; her action was repeated once again. To Natsu's all but silent sigh, Lucy pulled her hair in frustration.

"Hey, hey, easy there, Luce," Natsu gave her a concerned glance and lifted his hand to stop her. "Want me to get your hair cut?"

"No!" Lucy screeched for the second times that afternoon.

Natsu cocked his head to the side and gave her a confused look. "Okay, then why did you pull your hair like that?"

"I'm frustrated, Natsu, can't you see my face?" Lucy was very close to snapping, but at the innocent, pure confusion tone Natsu used, she refrained.

"Well, I can see your eyes," he gave her a smile. "It's pretty."

Lucy chocked on her saliva. Coughing profusely behind her hands, she stared at Natsu's yet again quizzical expression and gave him a stunned look. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she searched for any teasing intention in his eyes, but found none. Then it was her turn to give him questioning look when he suddenly continued. "It reminds me of–"

Natsu quickly bit his cheek and cursed silently in pain. Tangy taste was quickly spreading inside his mouth. He should have stayed silent and concentrate on his assignment. But as if he could, unless he comforted the younger girl, he wouldn't be able to get his peace. And when he was finally able doing that, there was this slip.

In the meanwhile, Lucy blinked and watched as Natsu glanced away and covered his mouth with his hand. She heard him muttering something, but decided not to ask as she noticed the stiffness of his jawline. He would probably say nothing and just shrugged it off and she understood his reason. But if he wanted to tell her, she was there with ears opened and mouth shut.

She waited. Her eyes lingered on him, carefully maintained so he wouldn't feel so pressured to think she was curious because she was definitely not. It took the pink haired man some moment to turn on her, and was amazed not to see prying gaze. He observed her. Mouth tightly shut in a relaxed way and her as for her eyes… Natsu couldn't quite read them. Or rather because it held nothing but neutrality.

Ten minutes passed by and neither of them talked. Lucy simply stared at him, sometimes checking at her laptop if its battery ran low or her phone if she had a message from Levy while Natsu subtly avoided her eye contact by working on his assignment. Though, he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt for making her interest piqued. But he felt no obligation to tell her what was on his mind, nor that he wanted to.

Did he?

Lucy tried hard to ignore the awkwardness, or at least she felt so. It wasn't polite to stare at people for a long time, but she couldn't help growing restless as her mood had gone downhill in some minutes ago. She forced herself not to sigh because she knew he was expecting her to be silent. So rather than trying to play the psychologist, she shifted her gaze to the papers he was working on.

"What are you doing with that music score, Natsu?" She asked, gradually became interested with it.

The asked person lifted his head and poked the pencil to his cheek. Muttering something barely audible, he pushed the papers toward her. "Just some stupid assignment, nothing big," he gave her a lopsided grin.

"Wow," Lucy breathed as she took a full view of it. "It looks pretty difficult. Did you always get this kind of assignment?"

"Nah, this one was given last Thursday as a remedial. I only have the time to work this out today because my cello," Natsu pointed to a black case on the floor, "had been on the shop for repair and today it was finished."

Lucy immediately stood and went to the said case. After a reassuring nod from the owner, Lucy opened it slowly, afraid she might break the instrument inside. There laid a brown cello, shining slightly in the dim light with four thin strings attached firmly and its bow on the side.

Putting her forefinger tentatively on the strings, she noticed it could tear the player's skin if pressed hardly. "It is beautiful," Lucy said in a murmur.

"It was my mother's." By the time his reply reached her ear, he had already settled himself beside her, half crouching as he placed his hand on its polished body as if brushing the dust away. He smiled widely, almost broke into a stupid grin even, but there was the barest hint of melancholy at the way he pronounced his answer.

The blonde just smiled and stayed still on her position. Her finger still tracing the strings as she softly said, "Go on."

Natsu couldn't hide his surprise when he heard her reply. With head turned slightly at her, Natsu asked himself. Was he that careless? But then again, careful was never his best point as his action spoke louder than his talk. "My mother was a cellist – you know the Fairy Opera? She worked there as a cellist in its orchestra. She was the best, believe me!"

Lucy noticed his growing smile. She gave him a small humming sound, indicating she was listening to it as well as telling him to continue. Silently, she noted the gentle look he gave the stringed instrument as he opened his mouth again to continue.

"I love her play, so I asked her to teach me. My father was against it at first, but at her stubbornness, he gave up and let me learn cello. It was very hard at first. I kept having bruises from accidentally cutting myself with the strings, but looking at her beautiful play made me wanted to quickly master it and play for her."

Natsu paused, removing her fingers from the strings as he closed the case slowly. Lucy took it as the end of his tale and she went back to her seat. But when she stood, Natsu grabbed her wrist, stopping her with the faintest shook of his body.

"Then there was this one night," Natsu continued, "she went home from her work and collapsed. My father was drunk. He refused to take her to see a doctor so I had to stop a taxi and got her in. But I was late."

Lucy turned around, hesitant at first, softly pressing her forehead to his back. His hand was still attached to her wrist and she ignored the small laugh erupted from him. Her other free hand made its way to his head and gently caress his hair. It was surprisingly soft and silky, despite its spiky appearance and all.

"Natsu," her voice was quieter than she thought it would be, "can you play me a song?"

He turned his head slightly at her question and saw her silver blonde tresses clinging onto his back. So that was what touched his back. Natsu wanted to ruffle her hair and tease her at her gesture. But feeling the warmth, he decided to stay like this for some moment later.

"What's the magic word?" He asked eventually and he could hear her pout.

"Please?"

If he could laugh, he would be laughing now. But remembering the tightness of the atmosphere around him (and her) he chose only to let out a slow, shaky breath in a fail attempt of suppressing a chuckle.

To her ears, it would sound as if he was hesitating. He did, actually, for a fleeting moment. And then he remembered a song his mother used to play for a big event. It wasn't a special song and all, just some classical one which he rarely found the time to play these days.

To Lucy, asking him for playing his cello was like a death wish. He just recited his history for goodness' sake, and now she asked him to play. She should know better – what if he suddenly went back to his silent mode? Lucy wanted to slap herself as she felt his retracting hand from her wrist, and wanted to bang her head to the floor when she heard his shaky exhale.

But the next thing she heard was the soft tune produced by the friction between the bow and the string. Lucy was rooted in the place as she heard the song. She watched him with wide eyes, studying his perfect cellist posture as he played with eyes closed in concentration from his seat and forced herself to not thinking when did he moved away.

Smiling, Lucy closed her eyes and imagination took her to grassland with a wide blue sky and white clouds. The song was gentle, tickling her ears like a warm wind of summer. And in the middle of the grassland, Natsu was there, still playing his cello.

All in all, it was a good song, indeed. But she got a hunch as she could hear the same song playing inside her head, as if she knew this song. But she did. And if she remembered it right, she had heard it once–

 ** _"_** ** _I hereby declare my daughter–"_**

Lucy's eyes flung open. Her heart was thumping madly she practically could hear it in her ears. Across her, Natsu was still in his position, playing his cello with eyes closed. With a content smile.

 ** _"…_** ** _Lucy Heartfilia–"_**

As Natsu ended the song, Lucy flinched visibly. But to her relief Natsu missed it as he grinned at her when she clapped at him. She forced herself to calm down and sat on her seat, pulling the laptop open.

"Well," Natsu started as he returned to his seat after putting back the cello into its case.

"Want to talk about yours, Luce?"

She stilled. Her fingers that were typing went stiff all of a sudden. Lucy felt his expectant stare and she knew he was only trying to be polite. But she couldn't. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. As much as the guilt she would feel, she _couldn't_. She lifted her head from the laptop screen and stared at him in a relaxed manner.

"I can't remember anything about it," she said as she scratched her chin. "Well, in short, Levy-chan found me here around four years ago and she took me in and we lived together for two years. When we both got into university, I decided to live by myself. I can't always cling to Levy-chan, can I?"

Natsu stared at her with mouth gaped wide, as if she was sprouting another head. "Wait… how old was you?"

"I was around fourteen… no, fifteen, perhaps since Levy-chan decided I was at the same age as she was when she first found me. I'm now nineteen."

"That's amazing!"

Now it was her turn to stare at him with mouth slightly ajar. She couldn't believe what he just said. Amazing? What the hell? "What is amazing? It sucks!" She yelled, tempted to throw her notepad at him. "Okay, let's stop with these stupid stories about the past. I need to get your help now that you're in a better mood."

At his sheepish laugh, Lucy rolled her eyes.

* * *

Lucy was on her way back from the library. After refusing Natsu's company to walk her home, she decided to make a detour to a bookstore and a café for some daily dose of caffeine. Ten minutes ago, right before she exited the building, she told him about the story she and Levy had just read and asked for his opinion.

He said that it was a good story, better than hers, he added with a laugh. Lucy couldn't punch him the way she usually did when he teased her because it was the fact. And it hurt her to listen for the rest of his comment which was full of compliments.

Natsu explained that the author was good at realizing the expression, even if his wording wasn't the best. Lucy's was better than his to her relief. He had finished the whole five chapters within ten minutes and complained of the length of its chapter. Or rather, to its consistency. The plot was fine, he said, but it can be expanded more.

"So the conclusion is," Natsu returned back her phone, "he's pretty tough opponent."

Lucy slumped, but then asked as she realized his aim. "How did you know he's going to take a part in the same competition as mine?"

But to her confusion, he only grinned almost mischievously and said, "Figures."

What the hell with that grin? Lucy pouted. _Ugh._

Okay, she should have taken Natsu's offer because she started to get chills running down her spine. The big main road was unnaturally deserted, save it for the dim lampposts. If she wasn't that stubborn, she should have been on the bus, sitting with one earphone stuffed into her ear and definitely still not walking with long strides in this dark street. And if it wasn't for the sound of footsteps several meters behind her, she wouldn't be running as she was now.

Lucy wasn't the most athletic person in her class back when she was in the high school, but when the situation demanded it, she could be. And right now, she even surpassed Jet, the fastest guy in her school, himself.

The footsteps behind her sounded horrifying in her ears, as if she was their target. While at first she hoped it was only people who happen to be in the same direction as hers, it changed immediately when she jogged and broke into a run.

Out of fear, she went into a narrow street and cursing endlessly at the stupidity. If those people were going to, say, kidnap her, she shouldn't be running towards some suspicious alley. Who knew what they got waiting for her in there? Nasty thought started to fill her head as she forced her legs to run faster. They might kidnap her, or rape her, or maybe both. Or maybe they kidnap her, rape her and then sell her as a slave and turned her into a harlot. If the situation was better, she would be laughing at the over-dramatic thought. She didn't even know if slavery still existed.

Her sagged breath and thumping heart were all she could hear as she desperately trying to find the bigger road. She could no longer hear her pursuer's footsteps and she collapsed in a corner, hiding behind some crates and boxes. Slowly, she pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Levy as quiet as possible. She hated it the fact she was shaking – she couldn't even get to tap open the contact icon.

She heard the sound of footsteps once again, making her to force herself to hold her breath and stay _still_. Lucy bit her lower lips in anticipation. The constant dialing sound of calling Levy sounded a lot quieter than the footsteps. What the hell was Levy doing? Why didn't she answer her?

"We lost her."

"No, search over there. She must be hiding somewhere."

With a feminine voice over her cell phone, she squeaked in surprise and successfully leading the pursuer to her hiding place.

"I hear something over there. Lemme check."

"Hello? Lu-chan?"

"It's only some rat."

"Are you sure?"

"Lu-chan? Hello? Answer me, Lu-chan."

"L-Levy…-chan…"

"I see something behind these boxes."

"Lu-cha–"

 _Beep_

It took her no more than one second to shut the phone and swing the iron pipe that was resting on her side. It came into a contact with the man with a loud whack. Several heads turned in her direction and started to run to her, but she managed to use well of the things around her, including her throwing the crates and successfully injured one man, before she took off.

Once again, they were hot on her trail, but this time they made no effort to mask their footsteps. She dared herself to glance back, but found it impossible with her hair suddenly yanked. A loud gasp was forced out as she struggled. Of course Lucy refused to be taken down. She gritted her teeth to stifle a scream. The hell with them all! With the pipe still in her hand, she swung it as it landed on the man's face. Blood trickled down his nose and Lucy praised herself at the badass move.

But Lucy was smart enough to decide this as a lucky accomplishment so she bolted to the end of the alley as soon as the man was distracted by his broken nose and arrived on a well-lighted road. To her relief, it was bustling with people and she took no more time to blend herself within the crowds.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw them exiting the alley with head glancing all around the road before splitting into two groups. Lucy pulled the hoodie to cover her head and run away, trying her best not to get noticed.

In the end, Lucy ran all the way back to her apartment. A sigh escaped her mouth as she glanced around her still-the-same house with unfocused eyes. She was still in a daze, too caught up with the fact she was just being targeted by some random thugs for reasons she didn't even know, when she heard her cell phone rang.

Lucy probably wouldn't realize she was crying if Levy didn't ask her about her cracking voice.

* * *

to be continued

* * *

This chapter is dedicated to **Maya-chan14** (my lovable beta, lots of hugs and kisses and hearty-heart love) and to the three people who reviewed the previous chapter; **Nekokittygirl, NeonTiger101** and **HuskyChoirs.** Standard declaimers applied, and also, does anyone know anime Zankyou no Terror? Terror in Resonance? See the resemblance of the underlined part? /winkwink/

Are you kind enough to leave REVIEWS?

~Air

P.S: longest. chapter. EVER.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fun** Fact! 2 ampere charger is good if you do quick charge to powerbank :)

* * *

 **power[ ]bank**

.: hotairballooness :.

 **Chapter 4: 12:08**

* * *

–

Lucy groaned as she kicked the blanket. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand and spared a suspicious glance towards the outside through the window, she planted her face into her pillow as she saw the pop-up reminder of today's event. No wonder today was oddly _very_ sunny to the point where the birds were all chirping happily – today was, undoubtedly, going to be her unfortunate day.

Scratching her lion mane-like hair, Lucy fumbled with her crumpled pajamas and walked to the window, immediately regretting opened it as the cold, chilly winter wind entered her place. That reminded her of a scene or two from the Disney cartoons. She wondered if she could become like those princesses, singing as the little bird perched on her hand, but immediately realized she had no resemblance to any of them.

Lucy put a hand on her face and suppressed a sigh; random thought in the morning was definitely not a good thing to start a day.

But, oh well, there was nothing better than a couple of deep breaths of fresh air in the middle of a city such as Magnolia; Lucy could stay here all day without worrying about her work or assignments if only the temperature was better. While Magnolia wasn't a metropolis the way Crocus was, the air wasn't as fresh as the one in the hills area despite its geographical location being surrounded by hills. Lucy wondered if she and Levy should go hiking and camping in the future, for the sake of their sanity; being cramped in a city loaded with bunch of stressful things that slowly ate them alive and all.

Now that Lucy's rational mind finally able to force her body to move and ordered to warm her body up, she closed the window and started the fire in the small fireplace. Settling herself in front of the fireplace, Lucy rubbed her hands together as she listened to the cracking sound the fire made to the log. It was a relaxing sound in its own way and Lucy was glad she had the traditional heater instead of the electric heater. Who knew what she should do if the block suddenly had an electrical failure while a storm was raging outside?

That was why Lucy hated winter and preferred summer or autumn more.

Having her stomach suddenly growled, Lucy remembered she hadn't eaten anything since last night. She then went to the kitchen to see if she still had any leftover from yesterday's lunch. But to her dismay, there was nothing so she decided to cheer herself up by making some pancakes. Pancakes… with lots of syrup and sugar and strawberry…

 ** _"…–_** ** _pancakes! Huh? Lu– it's overcooked!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Whaaat?!"_**

"Overcooked," she smiled, and almost broke into a grin, as she pulled out a big plastic bowl from a shelf. "Well, I'm definitely a better cook now."

Pouring the milk and adding egg, Lucy then went back to her room to grab her phone. Ignoring the pop-up, she tapped the music icon and shuffled all the song in her playlist and put it on the coffee table. In an instant, songs with both loud beat and acoustic one filled the air around her. She wished she had this portable speaker so she could just keep her phone in her room. That way, she had a bigger space less quiet and efficient.

Within minutes, the smell of freshly cooked pancakes filled the kitchen and Lucy hummed in delight as she put the sliced strawberries on top of the stack of pancakes. She could go with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and choco chips but she decided to be healthy this morning and went pouring the syrup before taking her comfortable seat on the sofa.

Lucy turned on the television as she munched the warm slice of pancake. Browsing through channels, she stopped on a particular channel and raised the volume. It was news, one thing that Lucy came to hate after nonsensical gossip shows. But this one, this news, took her interest as she read the title.

 **Exclusive interview with Layla Altrea, CEO of Altreaus Gold Corporation**

It took all her might to not to spit out the half-chewed pancake back to the plate as she stared wide eyes at the television screen. Placing her free hand on her neck unconsciously as she tried not to choke on it, Lucy's eyes widened another fraction as she saw a blonde haired woman that resembled her too much. Too much for her liking, if she may add. And as if on cue, her phone rang and Lucy almost knocked over the plate that was resting on her lap all the time.

She swiped open the lock screen with a little too much pressure as she was driven by vehement. And another ton for her chagrin, it was the same pop-up of reminder about today's event. Lucy was ready to throw the phone to the television, but she couldn't afford to lose both of the electronic devices. She was low in the pocket and what she needed the least was another Jewels for reparation fees so she restrained.

The metal, stainless fork made a less than nice sound as it grazed against the porcelain plate, but she stubbornly ignored it and kept on chewing the pancake slice with extra vehement.

 **"** **Good morning, Altrea-san, we're happy to have you here."**

 **"** **The pleasure is mine, Maya-san, and please, call me Layla. We're about the same age, right?"**

 **"** **Now that's another wonderful trait from you, Layla, aside from your ever-so-young face, that is. Now let's get to the main topic; as the CEO of the world's most renowned gold mining corporation, what do you think about the society's view about gold being the most precious being aside from money?"**

At the start of the conversation, Lucy whirled her head and focused on the screen. There were two women, one with blonde hair in business suit and the other had auburn hair dressed in your usual newscaster clothing. There was a round of applause coming from the in-studio audience as the golden haired woman answered.

 **"** **Altreaus Gold Corporation is a worldwide corporation that isn't only did the mining, but also did the marketing and producing our own jewelries. For such, society's view about gold is as important as the gold itself and…"**

The show went on for fifteen minutes before it was break session. Lucy had finished her breakfast by then and as she stood to place the plate to the sink, her eyes directed to the clock on the wall. It was then finally she let out a shriek and chanted 'I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!' all over the place and not bothered to continue watching the interview program.

Her boyfriend messaged her last night, telling her if they can meet tomorrow morning for a chat. Lucy got a hunch that he was going to talk about their fight that had been almost two weeks-long. Eleven days since their fight and three days since the failed attempt of kidnap. At first she told him he could come over her apartment since she was still paranoid about those men back then. She didn't tell him about that, though, but he refused the offer and went straight told her to meet him in the park.

Well, Lucy was mentally ready just in case he wanted to tell her nasty lies about the incident back then. Levy's word from last night echoed in her head, telling her she had to over their relationship. It was a nasty discussion for Lucy's taste, but she needed Levy's opinion about it and somehow, they ended up discussion on how Lucy should interact with him.

 _"_ _You know, just in case he starts talking about how you and he are incompatible, just cut his bullshits and go straight dump him. That way you'll feel less hurt, Lu."_

 _"_ _I play the culprit?"_

 _"_ _Exactly."_

Sometimes Lucy just couldn't love Levy enough for what she had done with her. That girl seemed like she knew what the best for her, but still, Lucy couldn't help but feeling queasy at the thought of her playing the culprit and not the victim. Weren't girls supposed to play the victim? And the boys were the asshole towards the girls? Or was it just her selfish thought?

Lucy bolted to her room, not bothering with her wet feet that left wet footprints on the floor, and almost slipped as she saw once again the interview program. She saw the blonde woman smiled towards the camera, making her shudder as their eyes met indirectly. The woman had the same iris color as hers and the same jawline. If only it wasn't for the faint wrinkle on her cheeks and under her eyes, Lucy could brag to Levy she had a twin by more than twenty year gap. But Lucy snorted at the thought, she was a stranger and why did she want to be compared with her? Her life was surely going to be sucked today.

And Lucy just realized she had yet to get dressed.

With a click, Lucy closed the door of her room and got changed in a flash. Oddly not minding her hairdo, she simply tossed what it seemed to be important to her handbag – phone, purse, pepper spray for protection, heck, she would carry stun gun if she had one. Slipping into her knee-length black boots, she gave a run towards the stop to keep herself warm.

Half of the bus passengers gave her this confusion-mixed-curious look as she stepped into the bus with a hood that almost covered her eye lines and a masker that covered from below her nose. Some even started whispering to another, and Lucy caught the word of 'model' and 'artist' and 'paparazzi' which made Lucy uncomfortable and restless. Maybe she should start faking some cough and sneeze so that they took it she was sick and was heading to the hospital or some sort.

Knowing it would be like this, Lucy almost regretted the effort if only she wasn't haunted by the paranoia of the possibility of another attempt to kidnap her.

It was Levy's idea to begin with. Three days ago, after she successfully made a safe run back to her apartment, Levy called her and was panicked as heck when Lucy couldn't help but sobbing as she answered her call. The next day, Levy came to her place with a bag containing the new hoodie with big hood and some masker so she could hide her face with it. It was a brilliant idea, Lucy decided, as the fake cough worked just as she wished.

[I'm at the park. Where are you?] 10:13

Lucy closed her phone as she stood in front of a lamppost and sometimes glancing around to see if there was a black-haired man she was familiar with. But to her disappointment, the park was literally deserted, as if the temperature was too cold even for children to play and build some snowman or make snow angels. It wasn't even snowing and the sun was bright.

Tapping one foot to the pavement, Lucy continued to glance around as she checked her phone if she missed a call or message from him. She would check on her wristwatch sometimes or looked up to the sky and wondering if the sunny day would last until the end of the day.

[Are you late? I'm in front of the lamppost, wearing red hoodie and a masker.] 10:34

[No, I'm not sick, if you're wondering. I'll tell you why after you're arrived, 'kay?] 10:36

Her hands were starting to hurt and stiff. It was no longer red as it usually was, in fact, it was almost white from cold. Pulling her masker down, Lucy rubbed her hands together and blow hot breath on it. A big puff of steam quickly faded away as she once again reached for her phone to message him.

[It's started to snow here. Are you okay?] 11:07

[Do you still have work to do? Want me to come to your place instead?] 11:19

Lucy once again glanced around hopefully, trying to distinguish the man she called boyfriend amidst the group of young men that passed near her. Tugging the masker, she once again let out several fake cough and hoping they paid no mind at her. But one fake cough led her to one fit of real cough which caught the attention of a man.

The man, who simply dressed in a black jacket and blue and white stripe shawl, approached her. His raven hair was slightly messy as his grip on a black case – probably guitar inside – loosened. Lucy spared him a glance between her rough cough and wondering if he actually just standing there while staring at her.

"I'm fine if that's what you're wondering," Lucy said in a hoarse voice and cringed at how bad it sounded. It made her sound angry or annoyed which she actually did, but not at this man.

"Lucy, you're freezing," he said, a frown appeared on his face.

Lucy took a deep breath to ease the itch on her throat. "And?"

"I'm telling you should warm yourself."

Lucy snorted, rubbed her hands together and blew some hot breath into it once again. She eyed him warily, not quite liking the way he lectured her. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?" He asked.

"Waiting for a boyfriend," she shrugged, sarcastically laughed as she walked to a cold bench. The man followed her and seated next to her with hands clasped together, as if he was thinking about something.

"You know, I should not be the one to tell you this, but," he sighed, "I don't like you with him."

"Him?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Him who?"

"Your so-called boyfriend."

"Oh."

She blinked before turning her head towards the lamppost she once leaned to. Imagining herself standing there and glancing around wildly made her stomach knot. Was she that pathetic to the point that she didn't realize he wasn't going to be here? Lucy knew he wasn't the type to hold any promises, yet she still placed trust in him.

"I don't like it either," Lucy forced to let out another sigh, ignoring the big white puff appeared in front of her face as she stared at her boots.

"Then why? Seriously, Lu, even I was better than him."

"You _are_ better than him, Gray. You should know that you're the only male I dared myself to place you on the 'friend zone'." Lucy used her hand to make the air quotation sign. "Ugh, I'm sorry, it was hurt."

The man beside her let out a chuckle, as if finding it amusing. "Because you're too good for me?"

"Because _you_ are too good for _me_. You deserve better. Say, what about Juvia?"

Gray simply stood before crouched in front of her, taking her hand in his in an attempt of making it warmer. "We're a pair now," he winked, making Lucy gasped in mild surprise, "and I see you as my little sister now so don't worry. Give me a hug?"

"Congrats, big bro," the girl laughed, taking a hand from him and ruffled his hair into a mess. "Tell Juvia I miss her and we should meet again in spring."

The man nodded before stood, planting a kiss on her hair as he waved at her. Lucy could only sigh and she imagined the blue-haired girl that was literally on her neck was now with her beloved man as she saw he joined the group of men. Well, at least he was happy now. At least he was with his dream girl, someone who deserved him better than her.

The sudden buzz of her phone almost made her jump. Reaching for her phone, Lucy was beyond thrilled as she saw a message from him. But her heart felt like it dropped into the pit of her stomach as she read the content.

[Sorry, I forgot it.] 12:08

And it took all of her might to not break down in the middle of the park as she chose to start walking to refresh her mind. She had to stay sane if she wanted to continue her walk. Lucy went to her favorite café and ordered a hot white cappuccino while she warmed herself up in the building.

Sipping her hot beverage, she rested her head on her propped hand as she stared outside where the snow fell harder. There was a blank look on her face, a result of her mind stubbornly order her heart not to give away and actually break down here. There was a proper time and place, dammit, or at least there was a proper place to and this wasn't the one she talked about.

Taking a deep inhale, she told herself that she was fine, that she didn't hurt or angry or sad, that she wasn't at fault, that he was the jerk here. Yes, one hell of a big jerky-jerk. But she loved him. Now Lucy laughed out loud and thanked that the café was free from people who actually would spare her a weird glance. She was definitely a masochist, just like Levy said the other couple days ago.

Well, what was love if it wasn't full of hurt and lies?

If Lucy was poetic, and technically she was since all of her stories were beautifully poetical, she would describe love as lame as something that killed the bearer slowly but sure. Or maybe better; like a rose. Thorny, but beautiful. Lucy knew now why Levy preferred flowering dogwood more than rose. And she, being a masochist, loved rose more than anything, but chrysanthemum seemed beautiful as well if she didn't know what it represent for.

Leaving the café with another glass of hot beverage – hot chocolate this time – Lucy made a detour to the bus stop, and the feeling of worry about the kidnapper was simply fading away. She could simply pour the hot chocolate to their faces and sprayed some pepper spray into their eyes before kick them in the place where it hurt the most. She was relieved she knew some basic of martial arts she had no idea when or where did she learned that.

When Lucy came to it, she was standing in front of the two story building before questioning herself why, of all places, her legs carry her to this one. At least the old man's cinnamon bread smelled delicious compared to her baking. Maybe she could talk to Natsu, have a nice, light chat with him to relieve her from the stress.

The same jingling bell greeted her as she opened the door. The place was still the same since her last visit three days ago, the smell of cinnamon was still lingering in the air and the sound of someone rubbing glass from the counter immediately alarmed Lucy. It was the silver haired woman she knew as her senior in her modeling work.

The woman wasted no time to greet Lucy as she sat at the barstool, head planted to the counter as she sighed.

"Bad day, Lucy?" she asked.

Lucy gave her a groan in reply. "Not my lucky day."

"I see," the woman hummed as she kept on polishing the glass. "Well, if you're looking for a nice place to sleep, you know where it is, ne?"

"Yeah," Lucy slid off the barstool. "I'll scare the customer away with my negative aura. Tell Natsu not to wake me up if he's here."

At the happy nod from the older female, Lucy went to the second floor and found the comfortable spot behind the bookshelf with a big window next to it. Truthfully speaking, Lucy loved the spot, but she loved the place in general. Not bothering to put her handbag securely, she just placed it in front of her as she buried her face in her folded arms. At least she could finally rest her mind and body. That was one hell of an event for her mind to process.

* * *

If Natsu was asked what he hated the most, he could easily make a long list about it. He hated snow, for starter, because it simply cold and he couldn't play with it as his body temperature was higher than the average people. In the second place would be his friend-slash-enemy; Gray Fullbuster. Not only he was his rival on the stringed instrument department, he was also the reason why he hated snow. Strangely, Natsu found it resembled Gray and it annoyed him.

He wasn't expecting to meet him today, though. The two were happened to be crossing each other way and Natsu couldn't help but throw a nice punch to his back. Of course, the punched man simply left the group he was in only to return the punch which Natsu avoided it swiftly. But at last, after another couple of punches and kicks, the two settled down and started to talk about things; mainly about what the two were doing here.

"Showing some relatives around the city," Gray replied nonchalantly when Natsu asked. "You?"

"On my way to the library," Natsu replied in a cool tone so he wouldn't lose from him. Somehow it was their habit for making anything as a stupid subject for competition. None of them disliked it, only sometimes they found it amusingly stupid. Natsu was almost knocked over though when he heard the other man laughed. "What?"

It took a couple of second before Gray stopped, with difficulty, and said, "Somehow the idea of you and the library doesn't sit well in my mind, Flamebrain."

"Says one who goes sight-seeing. You probably want to serenade some girl out there with that sucky guitar playing of yours," Natsu glared almost playfully and a grin broke as he added, "Popsicle."

Gray had to restrain the muscle on his face to form a grin into a mere smirk. "Well, I did serenade a girl. In another way she prefers."

"Bet she smacked you right after."

"She ruffled my hair," Gray's smirk widened as Natsu's lips formed a small frown. "Well, she's like my little sister. I used to like her, but not anymore. It seems she's having a bad day."

Natsu nodded. Somehow the image of a certain blonde haired girl popped out of nowhere in his mind. It had been three days since she last came to the library, not that he found it weird or anything, but he just wanted to see her. The thought of Lucy having problem didn't sit well in his mind, but it wasn't as if the girl he talked about was Lucy.

Well, Natsu just need to make sure of it.

"A girl, eh?" Natsu said, placing his fingers on his chin. "Long blonde hair? Heart-shaped face?"

The raven haired man arched a questioning eyebrow, eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. He eyed Natsu warily. "How'd you know?"

"There's nothing I don't know. Lucy Heartfilia, right?"

Gray narrowed his eyes, not liking the way his rival's eyes gleamed. "Back off, Flamebrain."

Natsu stood from the bench. "Make me," he said and left Gray with a small wave of a hand. He then made a brisk walk all the way to the library, making sure that each step was going to worth the 8 Island's special caramel cappuccino or frappuccino. Or maybe he could try the cinnamon hot chocolate Lucy ordered last time. Either way, it would be great with the apple pie Mira made.

Noting that the snow getting thicker, Natsu made a small jog to the building, but as soon as he arrived at the place and was ready to tell Mira his order, he only found the restaurant empty and one pale yellow sticky note on the counter. Written on it was – _Natsu, I'm going to get some milk in the grocery and Yajima-jii isn't here. Take care of the place! P.S: Lucy is upstairs, don't wake her, okay!_ J

He scratched his hair while tossing the paper into the trash can behind the counter. Opening the fridge, Natsu found a blue tumbler with another pale yellow sticky note on it. Written there was his name, which he decided it was Mira's doing, and the name of what was inside the tumbler. Caramel Frappuccino.

Natsu loved Mira and her mind reading skill.

Taking a swig of it and placing it back inside, he then made a beeline toward the stairs and climbed it carefully so he didn't make any creaking sound. As soon as he entered the library, he filled the attendance list and checked if anyone had rent the book past the due dates. Reaching to the drawer, Natsu seated behind the counter and wore the glasses as he worked on sorting the returned books from yesterday.

As Natsu walked almost wobbly between the bookshelves with almost-jaw-covering stack of books, while silently questioning which book went in which shelf and on what row, he wondered if the person who borrowed these books – five of them – was actually able to finish them all within three days.

They were all thick books, one that Natsu preferred to avoid at all cost, consisting of three novels, a dictionary and an encyclopedia. The first novel was Pride and Prejudice and then, there was Jane Eyre. Whilst the first two novels were romance-themed, Natsu whistled as he saw another thick book of The Da Vinci Code, which was indeed a good novel.

Placing the last book, the Jane Eyre in the fourth row in J section, Natsu noticed the existence of a figure, slumping over the desk with an apparent bag beneath her head. Her arms were circling the bag almost protectively, making him feel irked at Mira's nonchalant manner of leaving the sleeping girl alone with no security. What if someone or a careless group of men wandering around the place and found her in such… _helpless_ state?

Natsu banished the continuation of the thought as he ran his fingers on his pink locks, suppressing a tired sigh as he reminded himself not to wake the girl up. With a soft nudge of the glasses to put it back firmly on the bridge of his nose, he blinked as he noticed how the girl stirred in her sleep with a small groan. She turned her head in his direction.

The blonde haired girl was a beauty, indeed, with her baby face and doe-like eyes, she might be the prettiest girl Natsu had ever met. And he wasn't going to deny that. Looking at her sleeping figure, with her face slightly covered by unmanned hair, she was looking as peaceful as ever. And not to mention her slightly parted lips, which was unjustly _inviting_.

The pink haired man pinched his arm at the weird thought that invaded his mind.

But Natsu couldn't suppress the urge to swipe away the sun-kissed hair over her face. A small smile formed on his face as his hand lingered on her cheek.

Recalling the brief talk with Gray, Natsu couldn't help but thinking about her so-called bad day. While he knew her only a little, she was no person that was hard to read. In fact, her eyes vividly displayed things she was thinking, along with the feeling she tried so hard to feign.

Lucy was, Natsu decided after a long stagnant pause, a pretty complex person for being so expressive and inexpressive at the same time. There was a time when she openly showed what she felt – like when she was fretting about her writer's block, and a time when she was carefully laced her thought. Though it was only a hunch, Natsu felt she was oddly indifferent when they talked about her past.

There had to be something in the past she disliked to talk about. Natsu could understand why she became sour about it – he really did understand.

Realizing his hand was lingering far longer than intended, Natsu hastily withdrew and started to walk back to the counter. He sat and the silver glasses frame glinted as he took it off and placed it back inside the drawer. Not having anything to do, Natsu pulled a book and decided to re-read it once again to simply brush away the boredom.

With no much things running in his head, his choice fell to the Harry Potter saga – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

As he was on the part where Harry met the Dementor on the train, his phone vibrated. The man arched his eyebrow in an unexpected manner; because he simply didn't expect anyone to message him.

Placing a pencil on the page he left, he reached for it and typed down the password. The picture of a cello greeted him in the background, but then covered by an almost-translucent message notification.

Natsu frowned.

It was Gajeel.

[Downstairs. Be quick, Salamander.] 1:37

"Dammit," Natsu swore and put the black phone in his jeans pocket as he made a brisk walk downstairs, completely ignoring how the old stairs could make a loud creaking sound.

His mind told him, in a way that approached desperation, to not act harshly and keep it cool. Gajeel was a person who provoked people easily, almost as easy as offering candies to children. He had the tongue of snake; one that easily lure its prey into its lair with the utmost care before eating it whole.

Natsu learned it from the past, from the very first time he met the man. It wasn't a pretty memory.

As he reached the last stair, he saw the sender of the message, leaning on the counter with a hood which its shadow covered half of his face. Neither Mira nor old man Yajima was present, which somehow relieved him for saving some more troubles. A wide smirk plastered on his face nicely, making the silver piercings did its good job on adding the hideous impression.

"Metal-face," Natsu greeted almost forcibly with a tone that sounded as calm as a forest in the morning, with the hint of iciness on the edge.

"Been a long time since ya call me that," he said in a low baritone voice, red eyes glinted in mock amusement. "Lightning wants you back."

"Desperate much?" Natsu taunted, his lips formed a smile in a mocking manner. Looking at the scowling face of the black haired man followed by a low growl, Natsu couldn't hold back and laughed.

"That Lightning bastard should be one," he continued as he made a light walk towards him, "that way you got your ol' little gang back. You're happy and so do I. It's a win-win solution."

"Sadly, Salamander," Gajeel said quickly in a hiss as his smirk disappeared and he stood from his seat, "the rules still apply."

Natsu blinked, his mind raced for any memory about the said rules. Cocking his head to the side, he questioned, "Oh yeah?"

"Fuck, you're as idiotic as ever, I swea–"

"Third rule," Natsu stretched his hand with fingers formed in the number three symbol, "leader is always a leader, except those who are traitorous. That's right, Metal-face, I was the leader. I _am_ the leader."

Natsu could she Gajeel smirked once again. He returned the smirk as he walked behind the counter. Grabbing the cloth Mira and Yajima-jii always used for wiping the cup clear, he reached for a cup and wiped it the same way the other two did.

Placing the clean cup beneath the espresso maker, he then waited until the dark-colored liquid to stop pouring. Gajeel eyed him in anticipation and a little bit hint of confusion, opening his mouth to shower him with nag and only to be silenced with a raised hand of Natsu's.

Pouring half of cup milk and adding the mixture with two shots of sugar, he then placed the beverage on the counter, offering it to the still-confused man. "Poison free, it's on me," he said, wiping his hand with a paper towel.

"Well, Salamander," Gajeel wiped the corner of his mouth after he took a big chug on the beverage, "welcome back to the club."

* * *

Gajeel was no man of patience. In fact, if he was ordered to persuade some people joining the group in recruiting time, or fishing season as he preferred to call it, he would either swiftly avoid the task or be blunt and avoided it, despite his good trait in doing so.

But it was different this time. He was going to fish a big one with peculiar color and appearance of no fish.

He fished a dragon.

It was by the order of the temporary leader, or the original co-leader. The shiny yellow hair owner who always wore headphone around his head was the group's temporary leader, and he would be the permanent one if the original refused. But Lightning wouldn't take no as the answer.

And it was Gajeel's duty to confirm that.

So there he was, on the restaurant he found days ago, after paying the spy double of his payment, with eyes twitched uncomfortably. It was _ridiculous_. Who would think that the ferocious leader of the renowned gang, _mafia_ , worked in a restaurant?

Gajeel was beyond shocked when he found out that his leader wasn't a cook, or a waiter, or a receptionist, but a _librarian_. A simple, nerdy librarian.

But he was glad, though, that the pink-haired guy still remembered him, even in a way more than he thought it would be. The sharp obsidian eyes piercing him as they talked, making him shivered in both anticipation and excitement. The fact that he was still remembered him was enough for Gajeel to convince himself to do his best on persuading this guy back into his old business.

It turned out bad, Gajeel half expected it. But it didn't really matter. There would be still the second time, but no third time. And the leader, nicknamed as Salamander, crushed his pride so hard it actually enough for him to bring out a punch toward his face.

"Well, Salamander," he smirked, mentally laughing so hard in victory, "welcome back to the club."

At the sickeningly sweet smile his leader made, Gajeel suppressed the urge to laugh out loud and smacked him on the back like he used to. Drinking his free coffee, he eyed the pink-haired man, younger than him a year, as he leaned into the counter from the inside.

"Nice meeting you again, Metal-face," he said, promptly stunned him at the politeness.

"Gihi," he chuckled, "drop the formality, Salamander."

The pink haired man shrugged, then went to the fridge and pulled out something, a glass or something of the sort, and then placed it on the counter. A constant oozing translucent cold steam slowly filled the air as it disappeared almost immediately. Neither of them opened their mouth, but it wasn't a bad silence either. Gajeel never thought he had changed this much; from being the loudest to a quiet-self.

Gajeel asked himself – was this still the same man who mindlessly would set a building into flame a year ago? The same man who would laugh carelessly as the blazing red fire consumed everything around it, illuminating the night sky with red and contaminating the sky with black smoke.

He just needed to make sure of it.

"How's the gang?" Natsu finally asked, making Gajeel wonder if he wasn't content for joining back the gang. But his question settled it down, at least he was asking about its condition.

"It's complete. That water-girl quitted though."

"Juvia?"

Emptied the coffee, Gajeel replied, "Yeah."

"I see."

Irked by his calm demeanor, Gajeel smacked the counter, the cup and the glass clinked at the vibration. He turned to gaze at Natsu, who gave him a confused stare in a careless manner. As if he was taunting him. And Gajeel wasn't going to let that slide, he grabbed the man's collar, effectively changing his expression into anger.

"Listen, Metal-face," Natsu said, a deep frown on his eyebrow was formed, "as the leader of the Red Dragon, no one will go against me or my order."

Gajeel narrowed his red eyes. "Fine."

"Here goes my first order, after one year gap," Gajeel's narrowed red eyes went wide at the sight of his leader's smirk – _victorious_ smirk, "I officially disband the group and you will not re-form once again."

His fist came to a contact with Natsu's face, throwing him straight to the wall behind him and knocking over some kitchen utensils and wall ornament. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and his nose, but the smirk – that victorious smirk – was still etched on his face, much to Gajeel's chagrin.

Not bothering to make a detour, Gajeel simply jumped over the counter and kicked him in the gut. Natsu hadn't once made an attempt to defend himself and just simply took all the punches and kicks, which irritated Gajeel to a whole new level.

"For fuck's sake, Salamander!" he shouted, grabbing his collar once again, "Stand up! Punch me like I taught you how! Don't be a fucking coward!"

Natsu spared him a glance, after spitting out blood in his mouth. Through his bruised, pale purple-colored cheek, he smiled. "Fuck off, Gajeel."

The said man threw another punch on his stomach. His eyes fierce and he shortened the distance between their face. "Don't make me punch ya again, kid."

"I'd like to see you try."

"You little fucke–"

"Natsu!"

Gajeel whirled around, missing the widened eyes Natsu made as a feminine voice reached them, stopping Gajeel's fist in the midair. His crimson eyes made a scrutinizing look at the girl. Long blonde hair, brown eyes expressed worry and fear, wobbly standing figure; Gajeel knew this girl.

He hid a deep chuckle and smirk. Leaning toward the bloodied man, he whispered, "There won't be the third time," crimson and obsidian eyes locked in a fierce stare, "traitor."

* * *

Lucy was rooted to the spot. The sight of a man, dangerously hovering over Natsu – a beaten up, bruised Natsu – was simply scared her to the core. There was blood at the corner of his mouth, and another fresh trail from his left forehead, almost covered by his disarrayed hair.

She didn't know what was going on, but as soon as the man dressed in black mesh shirt exited the place, Lucy bolted to his side and carefully helped him to sit. Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out a handkerchief she didn't know she had and wiped the blood softly.

Biting her lips as Natsu winced at the contact she made, Lucy eyed him in concern. The man refused to meet her eyes, which Lucy found it so odd. "Natsu…"

"It's okay, I'm fine," he replied immediately, which made Lucy think he was avoiding the topic.

"That's not the point! You almost get yourself killed!"

The man laughed quietly. "Heh, that was nothing," he said, "I've suffered worse."

Lucy hated this. He just one-sidedly ended the conversation. She deserved to know something about it! Hell, she should be calling the police or an ambulance, maybe; the blood just refused to stop flowing and it now pooled beneath her crouching figure.

"Please, tell me about it, Natsu," she pleaded. Her chest was uncomfortably tight as the man glanced at her. "Who was he? Why did he beat you like that?"

"Tch."

"Don't 'tch' me! I'm trying to help you here!" she exclaimed.

"It's none of your business, Luce, really."

She stood, throwing the bloodstained handkerchief at him, glaring him as he removed the cloth from his face. "Fine. Be that way. I don't care if you continue to bleed to death. I'm done."

Leaving the man, she exited the building with a deep scowl on her face. Ignoring the snow, she walked with each heavy step as it left a deep footsteps trail on the snowy ground. Lucy wanted to throw something, her hand itched to do it, or crash something to relieve her building anger.

She was concerned, dammit! Couldn't he see that? Or should she spell it so he could understand why did she ask those questions? Lucy ran distressed fingers over her golden locks and sighed heavily in irritation. Catching a breath, she stopped next to a lamppost and realized that she was back at the park, on the same spot, with a more than five hours gap from the first time.

Lucy was back to the square one. She hated it.

Like, _urgh_.

With her head calmed down, she sat on the same bench she and Gray seated on this morning, or noon. Her lips let out another sigh, this time in the sudden rush of exhaustion. Too much happened today, Lucy told herself almost jokingly.

First was her supposed boyfriend who 'forgot' their meeting and second was she saw Natsu got beaten by some random stranger – maybe not a random stranger in Natsu's part – and he refused to talk about it.

She meant, really, he needed to tell her something about her. At least she could be a good witness if they ended up in police somehow.

Well, he didn't have the obligation to tell her, she said to herself from the rational view, but at least he could actually trust her. She trusted him enough so she let herself sleep in a public place, she trusted him that while she was sleeping, he wouldn't try to do something stupid, which he didn't.

They were no longer strangers, weren't they? Would it be safe to place him in the friend category? Or was it just her that regarded him as a friend?

She felt her brain almost fried at the thought.

Maybe Lucy should go to Levy's place, she should have returned from her day out with her community friend already. With yet another sigh, Lucy rummaged her bag once again and froze when her hand didn't find the white rectangle plastic electronic device named phone.

Lucy slapped her temple as she remembered she left it on the desk when she heard a loud bang on the first floor, followed by a couple of punch-like sound. She clicked her tongue. After throwing a fit and left the place unceremoniously? She almost wanted to leave the phone there if only the contact wasn't as important as her apartment key.

Huffing, she spun her heels to make a way back to the library. Noting the coldness, she decided to go to the café she visited this morning. Maybe if she was lucky, on her unlucky day _ha_ , she could use the discount coupon she got from purchasing two beverages.

As expected, the inside of the café was as warm as it was in the morning. The smell of coffee was strongly filling the air, mixed with the smell of the freshly baked breads and the rich aroma of chocolate – Lucy's stomach almost growled shamelessly.

But she would stick to coffee. Ordering a grande-sized caffee americano, she then waited for her name to be called. Less than five minutes later, the female barista called her. Lucy stood abruptly, almost knocking over the chair, before approaching the counter and took her order as she muttered small thanks.

A tap on her shoulder almost made her drop the carton cup. Turning her head around, with a slight blush marred her face at the small squeak she made, she found a man wearing a brown suit stared at her. She took a small step behind unconsciously to keep their respective distance.

"Can I help you?" Lucy asked, trying to be polite when the man simply smiled at her.

"Do you know any library around here, miss? I borrowed a book last week, but I forgot where is it," he scratched his head with a sheepish smile on his face. "I remember it is on the same building with a restaurant."

"Oh," Lucy commented, nodded, and turning his smile with one, "I happen to be on my way there too. Let me walk you, or you're still waiting for your order?"

The man's sheepish smile turned into one that showed relief. His eyes crinkled as he showed his paper bag. "No, it's done already."

Mentally raising her eyebrow, Lucy tried to remember if the man was even there before she walked in. She recalled no such man there; actually, if her memory served her right, the café was empty of customers. So why the lie? Or was she being too paranoid?

Shrugging, she was too tired to think about that, they made their walk out of the café. The dark haired man – she wasn't sure if it was black or dark brown – was actually a man from another city and was here for his job since a week ago.

While Lucy wasn't the most talkative person if he was a stranger, he was, surprisingly, a nice person to talk to. Never did once they fell into any awkward silence or simply ended the conversation.

"So what's your job?" he asked, after taking a turn to the left.

"I'm still a freshman in my college," she replied, "but I want to– will be majoring in English Linguistic."

The man hummed, scratching his chin in thinking manner. Lucy could almost hear the smile he made. "An aspiring writer, eh?"

Lucy blushed and laughed politely. "How about you?"

"Hm?" he looked at her. "My job required… stealth and big brain."

"A detective?" Lucy asked, tilting her head to the side.

He nodded, smiling. "Something like that."

With an understanding nod, she then asked for his college life, telling him that she might learn something from his experience.

As the minutes passed by, they finally arrived at the place. The man stared at the building, at the building's name before turned to her, saying, "This is definitely the place."

A smile formed on Lucy's lips. "Nice knowing it's the correct place," she said.

"Well then, I'll go inside. You're coming, right?"

"Oh, um," Lucy paused. The incident from the previous half an hour suddenly played on her mind. She guessed she was still sore about it and she preferred to not meet Natsu for the time being. "Can I ask for your, um, help?"

"Of course! Anything!"

This time, Lucy was the one giving him a sheepish smile. "I kind of left my phone inside, in the library," she told him, "on top of a desk, near the bookshelves in novel section. It has white color. Can you… take it for me?"

The man nodded. "Sure! Wait here, miss. I'll be quick in there."

Lucy thanked him before turned away – she hoped that that way she wouldn't meet Natsu. She suddenly remembered that Mira wasn't there. Maybe she was outside when it all happened, and it seemed that Yajima-jii wasn't there either. She couldn't think of anything if Mira saw the restaurant's condition, which was as bad as Natsu's injured state.

Natsu was bleeding. Furiously. She remembered how the red thick liquid would seep into her handkerchief, making it almost soaked. Lucy couldn't help but wondering who was the man. It was so unfortunate that he wore a hoodie so she couldn't see any of his facial features.

Maybe she should check up on him, but she didn't know if he was already returned to his home. Well, it was better that way. At least he could tend his bruises better than if he stayed in the library.

"Lucy."

"Nats– mmph!"

Having a cloth over her mouth and nose, Lucy could only stare with wide eyes as she saw the glimpse of a dark hair behind her. His hand circled her wrist, efficiently locking her movement as she struggled to break free.

"I never thought that you can be this smart," he said in her ear, making her shudder in fear, "You hold your breath."

She kicked him on his leg, a direct hit to his shin. Caught off-guard, Lucy used the chance to struggle and was able to break free from his grasp. She breathed hard, inhaling the oxygen after she lacked it. Not bothering to look at him, she ran toward the building.

But he was fast, faster than her.

The man knocked her over, making she fell to the snowy ground. His hands once again caught her wrist and she hissed in pain.

"H-Help!" she screamed. "Anyone! Help! Please!"

A hand covered her mouth, silencing her panicked scream. "Be a good girl, Lucy," the man said, "or I can knock you out. Which you prefer?"

Tears sprung out, but she refused to let it fall. To show tears meant to show your weakness and Lucy wasn't going to do it. Instead, she continued to struggle again as his grip on her went tighter.

Then she felt a cold metal on her neck. It was sharp, probably a pocket knife. "You should know that my threats aren't the empty one."

If she moved, it would pierce her neck. She glared to the ground, cursing over her carelessness and weakness. If only she wasn't being kind toward him, maybe she wouldn't end up in this situation.

A sharp pain made her silently gasp as her struggle made her neck came into a contact with the sharp tip of the knife. But it was now or never.

Lucy bit his hand, hard, before screaming on the top of her lungs.

"NATSU!"

* * *

to be continued

* * *

sorry for the **DELAY**!

and

longest. chapter. _**EVER**_.

word count: 8,238 words. this is unbeta-ed since I'm on holiday so it explains why this chapter posted late. I skipped the beta session to post this one **right away**. And I made it **extra longer** , shorter than planned, but this should be enough because too much information in one chapter will kill you. YOU SHOULD BE HAPPY, HOOMAN. AND BE THANKFUL TO GOD YOU'RE BELIEVE IN. FOR EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE. I MEAN IT.

that was an advice from an old woman.

still kind enough to leave _**REVIEWS**_? aw, c'mon!

~Air

 **Edit:** change the draft model and adding the fun fact and some other minor thing


End file.
